Changed plans for Park Place at San Marco

[ProjectMaximus]

Unless they managed to delay it into a financial crisis. Hopefully not.

[thelakelander]

This project is about to start:

Parts of the South Jacksonville Presbyterian Church campus could soon be removed as buyers of the property prepare to build the 133-unit The Hendricks at San Marco apartments.

The city is reviewing a permit application for Realco Recycling Co. Inc. to demolish the fellowship hall and education building.

Developers said in March they paid $2.66 million for 2.09 acres to build the apartments, renamed from Park Place at San Marco.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/demolition-in-motion-for-san-marco-church-property

[jaxlongtimer]

Sad to see the traditional brick church buildings go.  Would have been great if the apartments could of adhered to such traditional architecture.  They could have at least carried out the Spanish style theme of the area.  Instead, it looks like they are using more of the uninspired painted block designs that are no longer unique but just cookie cutter.  Bad enough that they are "cheating" on the height calculations but this just makes it even worse.  San Marco (and Jacksonville) deserves better.

[Tacachale]

I understand the concern but as a San Marco resident, I'm happy it'll be apartments. Better that than a strip mall or a pain clinic, which could have been there. I'm also glad to see the church will survive thanks to this deal.

[MusicMan]

This ain't your Grandpa's San Marco.......

[Tacachale]

This ain't your Grandpa's San Marco.......

Fine by me.

[jaxlongtimer]

This ain't your Grandpa's San Marco.......

Fine by me.

We will see how you guys feel when you are the grandpas!  LOL.

That said, the ambiance and charm of San Marco is its traditional and historic environment.  Violating that severely makes no sense.  This isn't about the use of the property, but about is aesthetics.  All of us should want to honor what makes San Marco what it is.  Making it into a Town Center look alike is going to dilute or detract from the beauty and attractiveness of San Marco.

We shouldn't prostitute ourselves - there should be a standard that developers are held to.  Once again, this is why Jax has lost and continues to lose so much of its character.

[Tacachale]

This ain't your Grandpa's San Marco.......

Fine by me.

We will see how you guys feel when you are the grandpas!  LOL.

That said, the ambiance and charm of San Marco is its traditional and historic environment.  Violating that severely makes no sense.  This isn't about the use of the property, but about is aesthetics.  All of us should want to honor what makes San Marco what it is.  Making it into a Town Center look alike is going to dilute or detract from the beauty and attractiveness of San Marco.

We shouldn't prostitute ourselves - there should be a standard that developers are held to.  Once again, this is why Jax has lost and continues to lose so much of its character.

I don't love the aesthetic - in fact I thought it was better before the NIMBYs got them to remove the apartments on the southern side - but that's much less important to me than the form. This isn't a Town Center style apartment building surrounded by parking lots. It's urban in design and has one parking garage for it and the church. Plus I'm happy to have some more walkable apartments to add people and vibrancy to the Square. It could have been a pain clinic or a CVS, and I'm glad it's not.

[jaxlongtimer]

^ Again, at this point, my issue is the aesthetics, not the use so no need to harp on that further.

In my opinion, the apartment design mimics the ones at Town Center and thus the comparison and why I think its inappropriate for San Marco proper.

[bl8jaxnative]

SOuth of Mitchell is San Marco.

North of Mitchell and east of Hendrick is  East  San Marco

[jaxlongtimer]

SOuth of Mitchell is San Marco.

North of Mitchell and east of Hendrick is  East  San Marco

Well, that is your take and it's a rewrite of historical appellations which, admittedly, can be a little fuzzy at times.  I grew up in the area and, in my experience, "San Marco" was bounded by the river to the north and west, River Oaks Road to the south, and Philips Highway to the east.  There was no such thing as "East San Marco" and "Southbank."  If one takes into account the common period of development, mainly pre-WW II, architectural and development styles and sense of community, I believe my definition is still apt.

Calling "San Marco" today all the way to University Blvd. is another stretch. Much of today's appellations all over northeast Florida are a result of Realtors and developers stretching names with positive images to ever larger areas.  In fact, "San Marco" is itself evolved from the passage of time and, likely, only applied, at one time, to the area from San Marco Blvd. to the river to River Oaks Rd. Go back far enough, and "South Jacksonville" covered pretty much what I call "San Marco" so I get names can change.  But, unless its incorporated, it's rarely official as you imply with your assertive declaration.

Thus, these terms need to be taken with a huge grain of salt.  The most over-the-top one for me is saying that Nocatee is in "Ponte Vedra."   So is calling the area all the way over to Philips Highway and south of Baymeadows "Mandarin."  I could go on but you get the idea.  When I grew up here, we had many names for much more confined areas that are mostly being lost in today's world.

[Captain Zissou]

SOuth of Mitchell is San Marco.

North of Mitchell and east of Hendrick is  East  San Marco

Beyond the name for the Regency Centers development, I've never heard of an actual plot of land being "East San Marco".  Business owners are trying to brand "San Marco East" for the Philips highway corridor, but that's a gimmick and historically not a thing.  Historically you can site Alexandria Place, Oklahoma, South Shores, South Jacksonville, Colonial Manor, Redbank, and many others as subsets of what is now called "San Marco", but I have not heard of East San Marco as an actual historic sub-neighborhood prior to 2006 when Regency named their development.

History buffs, what was the historical name for the intersection of Atlantic and Kings Ave?  Wall Street is coming to mind but I don't know if that's it.

[Tacachale]

SOuth of Mitchell is San Marco.

North of Mitchell and east of Hendrick is  East  San Marco

Beyond the name for the Regency Centers development, I've never heard of an actual plot of land being "East San Marco".  Business owners are trying to brand "San Marco East" for the Philips highway corridor, but that's a gimmick and historically not a thing.  Historically you can site Alexandria Place, Oklahoma, South Shores, South Jacksonville, Colonial Manor, Redbank, and many others as subsets of what is now called "San Marco", but I have not heard of East San Marco as an actual historic sub-neighborhood prior to 2006 when Regency named their development.

History buffs, what was the historical name for the intersection of Atlantic and Kings Ave?  Wall Street is coming to mind but I don't know if that's it.

It was Times Square: https://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-apr-lost-jacksonville-times-square

And I'm not sure if this is what bl8 is talking about, but the area east of Hendricks between River Oaks and Emerson was developed as "South Riverside," which you still sometimes see in realty sources (and on Google).

[Captain Zissou]

Thanks!  I knew it was some NYC based term, and that MJ had done an article on it, but couldn't find it.  Wall Street- Time Square close enough.

[jaxlongtimer]

SOuth of Mitchell is San Marco.

North of Mitchell and east of Hendrick is  East  San Marco

Beyond the name for the Regency Centers development, I've never heard of an actual plot of land being "East San Marco".  Business owners are trying to brand "San Marco East" for the Philips highway corridor, but that's a gimmick and historically not a thing.  Historically you can site Alexandria Place, Oklahoma, South Shores, South Jacksonville, Colonial Manor, Redbank, and many others as subsets of what is now called "San Marco", but I have not heard of East San Marco as an actual historic sub-neighborhood prior to 2006 when Regency named their development.

History buffs, what was the historical name for the intersection of Atlantic and Kings Ave?  Wall Street is coming to mind but I don't know if that's it.

Others names in this area include Miramar and Flamingo (was at the intersection of Emerson and Hendricks, so named because there was a 2 story building where the Gate station is now that was painted flamingo pink.  The ground floor had a Coley-Walker drug store.).